Product Description

This volume of Poems and Poems in Prose inaugurates the Oxford English Texts Complete Works of Oscar Wilde , which will for the first time provide students of Wilde with scholarly and textually accurate texts of his complete oeuvre. In it, Bobby Fong and Karl Beckson provide reliable texts of all Wilde's poems and poems in prose, including 21 never published in his lifetime, together with information on the locations of extant manuscripts; bibliogaphical details of each poem's publishing history; commentaries that identify and clarify contexts and allusions to figures and events; and emendations and variant readings, in manuscripts and printed editions, which illuminate Wilde's craftsmanship in revising. The variety of poetic forms in Wilde's 199 poemsDSfrom his earliest known verse, written while a student at Oxford, to his final masterpiece, The Ballad of Reading GaolDSreveals a versatility and accomplishment that previously has often been overlooked. Many of the poems, most of which were written before Wilde achieved fame, express themes developed in his later work in prose and drama, pointing to a continuity now perceived by critics. This new edition includes an informative introduction by Ian Small, one of the general editors of the Complete Works, which provides the historical context for an understanding of Wilde's career, information about the conditions surrounding the publication of his poetry, and insight into the current resurgence of scholarly interest in the man and his writing. Publication of the Complete Works will confirm Wilde's centrality in the development of early Modernism towards the end of the nineteenth century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #157679 in Books
• Published on: 1989-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1216 pages

Review of Engish Studies
"The editorial apparatus is meticulous and exhaustive ... As ancillary evidence for Wilde's later importance as a major cultural phenomenon, they [the poems] will reward more serious attention from scholars than they have previously received, and to that end this edition will deservedly become a standard work"

Review
The appearance of this first volume in the new Oxford series of Wilde's complete works is a significant event for all students of the writer. For the first time, all Wilde's known surviving poems are collected together, including twenty-one which were not published during his lifetime (Review of Engish Studies )

The editorial apparatus is meticulous and exhaustive ... As ancillary evidence for Wilde's later importance as a major cultural phenomenon, they [the poems] will reward more serious attention from scholars than they have previously received, and to that end this edition will deservedly become a standard work (Review of Engish Studies )

Review of Engish Studies
"The editorial apparatus is meticulous and exhaustive ... As ancillary evidence for Wilde's later importance as a major cultural phenomenon, they [the poems] will reward more serious attention from scholars than they have previously received, and to that end this edition will deservedly become a standard work"

Customer Reviews

DO NOT BUY THE PAPERBACK VERSION!!!
This rating is only for the paperback version not the text itself. The quality of this version is so horrible that I can not even read it and have to buy the hardcover version. Don't make the same misstake I did!

The essential guide to sagacity
It's not really necessary to say that Wilde is one of the best authors ever. His works are obligatory to any serious reader's bookshelf. If you are not a native English speaker, it's also a good fountain of vocabulary and "Brit" wit. Well done Oscar, wherever you are!

Magical, Fantastic, and Wilde!
This novel is a turbulant explanation of the ruined life of a man who has escaped any physical ramifications of sin. Dorian Gray's body and face go untouched by the nightmarish double-life he leads, while his portrait is changed by every wrong. The main question I had after reading it was whether someone would feel emotionally the effects of sin if he didn't feel them physically. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is young or remembers being so, for this work explores the wonders and miseries of youth.